Sailors valentines stolen from Westport restaurant

Police are telling antiques dealers to be on the lookout for modern "sailors valentines" being sold as originals after 11 of them, valued at $15,000 total, were stolen from a Westport restaurant.

ARIEL WITTENBERG

WESTPORT — Police are telling antiques dealers to be on the lookout for modern "sailors valentines" being sold as originals after 11 of them, valued at $15,000 total, were stolen from a Westport restaurant.

The valentines, by local artist Barbara Chadwick, are octagonal-shaped shell mosaics made in a style that dates back to the whaling days when sailors would make the art to give to their loved ones upon their return to shore.

The 11 pieces were stolen off the walls of Marguerite's Restaurant during a break-in Friday night. They had previously been written about in The Standard-Times.

Nothing else was taken during the break, police said.

Westport Detective Ryan Nickelson said he believes the thieves are hoping to sell the artwork, passing the valentines off as antiques.

"Either they like them a lot or they are planning to get some money selling them," he said. "We are hoping that if we get the information out there, dealers will know what they are looking at and will give us the information we need to get them back to their owner."

The Chadwick family has offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a suspect.

Barbara Chadwick said she had hoped it was a joke when the owner of Marguerites' called her to tell her the valentines were gone.

"I knew that it wasn't, but I just had to ask," she said. "I have had a very happy and uneventful life. Nothing like this has ever happened, it's very unusual."

Chadwick, who is 84, said that though the valentines are for sale, she started making the valentines as a hobby.

Now most of her works are done on commission to mark special occasions like weddings or births.

Each piece takes more than 100 hours to create.

"It's a difficult hobby, but it really satisfies my creative spirit," she said.

Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact Westport Police at 508-636-1122 or Detective Nickelson at 774-264-5174.